There are a wide array of expert opinions, and you can pick one you like.

Sign up, and you can make all message times appear in your timezone. Sign up

Report problem with this ad

Mar 27, 2020
8:30:01am

Plato Intervention Needed

There are a wide array of expert opinions, and you can pick one you like.

Also, its hard to believe what your eye can't see. Unless people keep telling you what to believe over and over again, then you may begin to choose to believe. Religion, politics and seemingly pandemics can all have this feature. Evidence be damned at that point.

Report problem with this ad

Plato

Bio page: Plato
Joined: Mar 21, 2017
Last login: Jun 15, 2024
Total posts: 20,291 (487 FO)

Report problem with this ad

Messages

Author

Time

Honest question: Why are people increasingly skeptical of expert opinions?

Gorgias

3/27/20 8:25am

Arrogance.

Ragnar Danneskjold

3/27/20 8:28am

This is interesting. And probably true.

Gorgias

3/27/20 8:33am

When I hear an "expert" say "everybody who is smart agrees with me", I immediately think "if you were right you wouldn't

Ragnar Danneskjold

3/27/20 9:07am

Maybe it’s arrogance of those need to listen not be open to receiving a message

U2wearblue

3/27/20 1:29pm

You're proving my point...

Ragnar Danneskjold

3/27/20 2:19pm

Fauci is arrogant? He's the opposite, and now everyone's ignoring him

runnincoug

3/27/20 8:43am

I was thinking in general terms.

Ragnar Danneskjold

3/27/20 9:04am

probably true sometimes, but probably more often not arrogance, just confidence

runnincoug

3/27/20 9:11am

Could be. It's hard to distinguish between the two.

Ragnar Danneskjold

3/27/20 9:13am

Didn’t find him arrogant at all! People listening to Trump couldn’t stand him

U2wearblue

3/27/20 1:31pm

This, you hit the nail on the head...

3/27/20 6:32pm

The downside of being better than everyone else is that people tend to assume

DapperDan

3/27/20 8:45am

Oh ... I thought you meant the skeptics were arrogant

coolcats

3/27/20 8:52am

On the flip side, it could be seen as arrogant to dismiss the conclusions of

3/27/20 8:52am

Very true.

Ragnar Danneskjold

3/27/20 9:04am

BINGO! I don’t care what accountant Bob thinks I want someone trained in field!

U2wearblue

3/27/20 1:33pm

You're missing the point. If an "expert" comes out guns a-blazing and arrogant, many people are turned off by that.

Ragnar Danneskjold

3/27/20 2:27pm

Sounds like quite the character. I wonder what they would have to say about

3/27/20 3:21pm

No idea. I have him on ignore.

Ragnar Danneskjold

3/27/20 3:28pm

There are a group of people who are "Biased Towards Reality"...

3/27/20 6:36pm

A lot of arrogant know-it-alls on CB too.

eddog

3/27/20 12:09pm

Political bias.

idcougarfan

3/27/20 8:28am

agreed...people skepitcal of them are doing it because of their own political biases

Deleted

3/27/20 8:32am

I think there is a lot of truth in this. No one rejects the expertise of the

3/27/20 8:55am

I don't know about "increasingly."

ReyOso

3/27/20 8:28am

Fair point. Maybe it just seem to increase since social media gives a mic

Gorgias

3/27/20 8:30am

Side question: Have you made a survey of members who think the Earth

mbs6

3/27/20 8:38am

No, I haven't. They're less common than they used to be, thankfully.

ReyOso

3/27/20 8:42am

I appreciate that. Thank you.

mbs6

3/27/20 8:49am

I once accompanied some missionaries to teach a grad student in a stem field

Gorgias

3/27/20 8:56am

You haven't been to my ward. Very affluent and educated ward, but there are

coolblue

3/27/20 12:14pm

Politics

mwcoug

3/27/20 8:29am

There are a wide array of expert opinions, and you can pick one you like.

Plato

3/27/20 8:30am

The number of times that expert opinions have proven to be no more than a guess

JollyGreenGiant

3/27/20 8:30am

or in the words of Mac from its always sunny: science is a liar...sometimes

Gorgias

3/27/20 8:38am

Posted this before, but experts are often worse at predicting future outcomes

Odysseus

3/27/20 9:16am

Because experts are too often wrong, especially during the Great Recession

MyTwoCents

3/27/20 9:35am

So because experts in a domain that is based on being nearly impossible to

ryebrye

3/28/20 1:03am

People care more about being “right” than about what is true. IOW, pride.

chilango

3/27/20 8:32am

You can find “experts” arguing every side of any issue.

MarkWatney

3/27/20 8:32am

With coronavirus even the experts are learning as they go and are not always

Littlerich

3/27/20 8:33am

The media that hypes the “experts” is trash. Too many treat science as a

Memmo

3/27/20 8:33am

I'm a hard-science guy and too much soft-science is passed-off

mbs6

3/27/20 8:48am

Poor track record of prediction.

RugbyCoug

3/27/20 8:33am

Maybe because at first there were gonna be 500,000 deaths in Britain only to

Viking VI

3/27/20 8:34am

This post is a great example of confirmation bias

chilango

3/27/20 8:36am

Simply, experts never have complete knowledge or control of the modeling

Viking VI

3/27/20 8:45am

No expert ever claims to know everything, at least not in science. But this

chilango

3/27/20 8:53am

You say confirmation bias, maybe you're using the logical fallacy of appeal to authority.

sgriff

3/27/20 8:49am

Not authority, but data, facts, and science. Appeal to authority would be doing

chilango

3/27/20 8:56am

Maybe you aren't. I'm too lazy to go check your posting history. But there have been plenty using the argument

sgriff

3/27/20 9:22am

I mean this is all so new and every country is recording and reporting things differently, I'm not sure anyone really

sgriff

3/27/20 9:25am

I basically analyze data and do modeling for a living. Financial modeling. My

chilango

3/28/20 1:07am

Contempt blinds their ability to give credit someone/something they disagree w/

RockyBalboa

3/27/20 8:34am

Experts touted as experts that aren't really experts.

RugbyCoug

3/27/20 8:34am

soc. media has turned everyone into an expert on everything. And all megaphones

Iman23

3/27/20 8:34am

Money drives extreme expert opinions to get coverage ....

Xenon

3/27/20 8:36am

<< Deleted >>

East1999

3/27/20 8:37am

I don’t know. Personally Greta and Barbara Streisand have enough credibility

SouthernBlueBlood

3/27/20 8:37am

I'd guess one reason is that there are so many "experts" everywhere that we

BYUfan92

3/27/20 8:38am

From what I've seen, it's from expert information passing from experts to

swingcat

3/27/20 8:39am

RE: From what I've seen, it's from expert information passing from experts to

3/27/20 8:44am

Because you can find an expert to say what you want him to say

JOPE

3/27/20 8:40am

Here's my opinion - even the experts disagree.

Eddie

3/27/20 8:41am

Plus when people say "the experts agree" there are still usually experts who don't. There are specialists and experts

BlueBlood94

3/27/20 12:23pm

IMO, the better educated you become the more likely it is that you are able to

gwalker

3/27/20 8:41am

This is absolutely true. But also, somewhat nihilistic

Gorgias

3/27/20 8:44am

Not so much nihilistic in my case. But a recognition that there's an element

gwalker

3/27/20 11:05am

Some of this is just about time and learning about how this virus operates...

Bonoman

3/27/20 8:48am

Mainstream fake news media.

Adwight

3/27/20 8:42am

The biggest problem with Trump's presidency is how he's forever changed how

runnincoug

3/27/20 8:45am

He isn’t wrong though. He’s exposed a real problem. It isn’t made up

Croweater

3/27/20 8:56am

^^^Case in point. Most journalists are pretty balanced.

runnincoug

3/27/20 9:03am

That’s a good one.

Misteak

3/27/20 9:16am

And as case in point...why do you disagree with me? Because of what Trump said?

runnincoug

3/27/20 9:32am

If anyone was willing enough to see, fake news didn't start with Trump

byublue42

3/27/20 11:04am

NY Times/WaPo/HuffPo/MSN/MSNBC/The New Yorker/NPR/NBC/The Economist/CBS/Atlantic/Politico/Time all have an obvious

HarlemCoug

3/27/20 11:09am

Because I have eyes. I see what they focus on and what they downplay...and most

Misteak

3/27/20 11:18am

wuuuuut. This is way bigger than just Trump

Memmo

3/27/20 10:56am

They also did that to themselves. He isn’t wrong.

Adwight

3/27/20 10:17am

Do you include Fox news in this bunch?

ryebrye

3/27/20 1:13pm

What's interesting is how they don't realize they do it. The "other side"

runnincoug

3/27/20 8:42am

My problem is with the “halo effect”...giving those who are experts in one

Misteak

3/27/20 8:44am

Because there are so many OPPOSING VIEWS within the 'expert' community.

Benfica1

3/27/20 8:44am

Because they are not omniscient.

snowcat

3/27/20 8:44am

The internet.

ironman1315

3/27/20 8:44am

Because nuance, compromise and gray areas no longer exist. The world is either black or white. If someone who believes

foofcoug

3/27/20 8:45am

Fake news is real. So much of what the experts say is filtered through the media

Croweater

3/27/20 8:47am

Especially what they DON’T cover or emphasize.

Misteak

3/27/20 9:17am

My response as a lawyer

3/27/20 8:50am

Because the internet is providing them with too many other opinions and it

mudpupper

3/27/20 8:50am

Skepticism of other experts and their data is a core part of the scientific process

ColoSpgs

3/27/20 8:53am

Good point. Maybe skepticism isn’t the right word. It’s the outright denial.

Gorgias

3/27/20 8:58am

Well said. Expertly put.

Misteak

3/27/20 9:18am

You mean like FOX downplaying minimizing COVID for a few months?

3/27/20 6:48pm

Ideological agendas that lead to skewing of the facts. It’s rampant.

Refugee

3/27/20 8:54am

Because the “expert” opinions are almost always contradictory to other “experts.” Choose your expert wisely.

dryflyelk

3/27/20 8:57am

This +100

proudcugr

3/27/20 11:28am

Because they are experts in only part of the equation.

Doogal McCougar

3/27/20 9:27am

That’s why the president is a ‘generalist’. He has to make decisions across

Misteak

3/27/20 11:20am

<< Deleted >>

Machiavelli

3/27/20 9:40am

We crave certainty. We listen to those who pretend to have it. They don't.

HenderCoug

3/27/20 10:05am

CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, et al gravitate ONLY to the experts that want to bury a

TrueBlue67

3/27/20 10:13am

Pseudoscience is rampant. Anybody that understand real science wouldn't get any

SFarkus

3/27/20 10:20am

we're tired of being lied to... boy who cried wolf should be re-read by all....

HarlemCoug

3/27/20 10:54am

Funding . . .

3/27/20 10:55am

Also, they don’t want all their work, their degree, etc. to be meaningless.

Misteak

3/27/20 11:23am

Concerning funding, you may find these past threads interesting:

3/27/20 11:48am

Read The Fatal Conceit. Humans are prone to errors & arrogance - even experts.

Jacksonian76

3/27/20 10:55am

Experts in one field are far from experts in another. Usually their views

Malacis

3/27/20 11:07am

What answer would you like? I can provide the "research" you want for a fee.

3/27/20 11:17am

Well you see Professor Division Bell, most of our funding comes from the “green”

JollyGreenGiant

3/27/20 11:19am

The answer is to put in solar and wind power. Get rid of your old light bulbs

3/27/20 11:21am

Because we don’t like our life choices to be questioned.

StalwartBraveTrue

3/27/20 11:44am

Self-importance

Jeb

3/27/20 11:58am

Most experts these days are agenda driven. Power and money are the motivators.

coolblue

3/27/20 12:19pm

Because I heard for 20 years that oil was about gone, sea would rise, etc.

CosmoK

3/27/20 12:20pm

Over half of academia is activism now rather than scholarship/science

yakkamole

3/27/20 12:23pm

THIS. Having been in academia for a while and with most my friends in academia, I can confirm the truth of this.

BlueBlood94

3/27/20 12:30pm

Because so-called experts are increasingly wrong

3/27/20 12:34pm

Population has more access to info, easier to trust experts when you know nothin

Hill4Heisman

3/27/20 12:37pm

The left seems to be freaked out about this, while people the right don't care

Lakerone

3/27/20 12:44pm

Because as the cdc doctors said yesterday, the models and predictions made by

travelcoug

3/27/20 12:55pm

Too many agenda driven expert opinions

astroman

3/27/20 1:11pm

From The Atlantic

3/27/20 1:12pm

Expert is a term thrown out there to silence debate.

Colorado

3/27/20 3:42pm

Report problem with this ad

Posting on CougarBoard

In order to post, you will need to either sign up or log in.

Report problem with this ad